It was never easy.

Not for 7 years of training, raising money, waiting, dealing with failures, jellyfish, currents, and traveling was it ever easy.

It was never meant to be easy.

The Oceans Seven is a journey of discovery, decisions, disappointments, and diligence.

And, as channel swimmers know well, nothing great is easy.

But she did it.

Yesterday, Bengisu Avci (Turkey, 28, IISA bio here, MSF bio here, @bengisuavci) finally completed the Oceans Seven 7 years after she started.

Her first Oceans Seven channel was a crossing of the English Channel on August 3rd 2018 – and her final crossing was as a tough one across the Tsugaru Channel in 14 hours 30 minutes on August 4th 2025 … just before the time limit of astronomical twilight.

It was a long, difficult, frustrating, challenging 7-year journey, the first for a Turkish swimmer.

Among the 40 Oceans Seven swimmers, there have been swimmers from Ireland, Sweden, USA, Great Britain, New Zealand, Mexico, Moldavia, India, Czech Republic, South Africa, Australia, Germany, Hungary, Spain, Guernsey, Croatia, Scotland, Chile, Romania, Bulgaria, Peru, and Brazil – but never Turkey until this week.

Crossing Tsugaru was never easy.

When Avci and fellow Red Topper Paul Leonard and Australian Michael Payne all got to Japan, the sea temperature was [only] 20-25°C at the beach where they been training. But the morning of their crossing, the sea temperature skyrocketed Avci said, “During the swim, the water was always hot. It even made me sleepy. Just mid-channel, there were short, cold patches of water which last just 2-3 minutes.“

Less than two weeks since her cold 10 hour 15 second North Channel crossing, Avci was surprised by the unexpected warmth of the water in northern Japan. She recalls, “The water temperature was 29°C. Red Top Swimming Club Club coach Nils Young said Paul drank 7 liters of water plus feeds, but he peed only once and was sweating the whole way.

Give me the North Channel temp any time.

Those conditions were a far cry from the conditions faced by swimmers only a few weeks ago.

After overcoming the cold waters of the North Channel between Scotland and Northern Ireland, Avci had to deal with the unexpected warmth of Japan, but she also had to deal with the fickle currents. “There were always strong currents against us. It was crazy feeling like I am swimming above an engine with the water flowing underneath us.

The Tsugaru Current was terrible. The whole time was swimming as fast as I could.

They wanted to abort the swim multiple times according to my team because based on changing currents, they said I only have 5% chance to finish. In Paul’s case, he was left with 8 miles to go with [only] 80 minutes of time.

But the 28-year-old Turkish swimmer was not about to abort.

“My team made them believe ı can do it. I gave 110% and screamed to our interpreter Taka, ‘I can do it. Please tell captain to let me finish.’ Then I just pushed even harder.

After both Paul and Mıchael’s swims were aborted, they thought I could not do it either, but our route was a bit different. That made the swim hard, but we made it [to Hokkaido] at last.

We been told that around finish point, the current may help us get in, but it didn’t. I had to push everything to beat it. It was so hard.

I finished during the daylight, but they were a bit worried about the Japanese Coast Guard said that we must finish at 6:53 pm. My finish time was at 6:58 pm, but in the rules there is no actual time given – it only says we can swim until sunset for safety reasons. At the end, we talked with Ishii-san. He said my swim is ok and there is no problem.”

The water temperature was measured at 26.8°C at the start, then increased to 27°C, and then went to 28.8°C by observers Yuka Ito and Toshinori Miyakoshi under the escort of Captain Yoshimi Kawayama.

Bengisu Avci’s 7-year Oceans Seven Journey

• 2017: attempted to cross the English Channel, but was aborted due to hypothermia after 7 hours
• August 3rd 2018: crossed the 33.5 km English Channel in 11 hours 29 minutes
• September 2022: crossed the 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Catalina Island to the Palos Verdes in 11 hours 59 minutes
• April 2023: crossed the 14.4 km Strait of Gibraltar from Spain to Morocco in 3 hours 24 minutes
• February 2024: crossed the 23 km Cook Strait from South Island to North Island in New Zealand in 10 hours 40 minutes
• May 2024: attempted to cross the Molokai Channel in Hawaii, but was aborted due to jellyfish stings 
• October 2024: crossed the 45 km Molokai Channel from Molokai Island to Oahu in 12 hours 10 minutes
• July 2025: crossed the 35 km North Channel from Northern Ireland to Scotland in 10 hours 0 minutes 20 seconds
• August 4th 2025: crossed the 19.5 km Tsugaru Channel crossing from Aomori to Hokkaido in northern Japan in over 14 hours

Avci said, “We have worked, non-stop last year.” Tropeano smiled, saying, “We are so happy; it is an amazing result as we are self-trained.”

Oceans Seven Swimmers

1st: Stephen Redmond (Ireland)
2nd: Anna-Carin Nordin (Sweden)
3rd: Michelle Macy (USA)
4th: Darren Miller (USA)
5th: Adam Walker (UK)
6th: Kimberley Chambers (New Zealand)
7th: Antonio Argüelles (Mexico)
8th: Ion Lazarenco Tiron (Moldavia/Ireland)
9th: Rohan Dattatrey More (India)
10th: Abhejali Bernardová (Czech Republic)
11th: Cameron Bellamy (South Africa)
12th: Lynton Mortensen (Australia)
13th: Thomas Pembroke (Australia)
14th: Nora Toledano Cadena (Mexico)
15th: Mariel Hawley Davila (Mexico)
16th: André Wiersig (Germany)
17th: Elizabeth Fry (USA)
18th: Attila Mányoki (Hungary)
19th: Jonathan Ratcliffe (UK)
20th: Jorge Crivilles Villanueva (Spain)
21st: Adrian Sarchet (Guernsey)
22nd: Prabhat Koli (India)
23rd: Dina Levačić (Croatia)
24th: Herman van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
25th: Andy Donaldson (Scotland)
26th: Stephen Junk (Australia)
27th: Kieron Palframan (South Africa)
28th: Bárbara Hernández Huerta (Chile)
29th: Mark Sowerby (Australia)
30th: Paul Georgescu (Romania)
31st: Zach Margolis (USA)
32nd: Petar Stoychev (Bulgaria)
33rd: Nathalia Pohl (Germany)
34th: Caitlin O’Reilly (New Zealand)
35th: Ryan Utsumi (USA)
36th: Marcia Cleveland (USA)
37th: Eduardo Collazos Valle-Guayo (Peru)
38th: Rob Woodhouse (Australia)
39th: Alessandra Cima (Brazil)
40th: Bengisu Avci (Turkey)

© 2025 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

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